What is Arizona's road fatality rate?

Arizona has a road fatality rate of 17.5 per 100,000 population and 1.7 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This is 43.3% above the national average.

How many road fatalities occurred in Arizona in 2023?

In 2023, Arizona recorded 1,304 road fatalities. The state's total fatalities across the 2015-2023 period are 9,706.

What is the leading cause of road fatalities in Arizona?

The leading cause is nighttime, accounting for 47.2% of all fatalities (4,581 deaths over the reporting period).

Are road fatalities increasing or decreasing in Arizona?

Road fatalities in Arizona are increasing with a +45.4% change over the reporting period (2015-2023). Fatalities went from 897 in 2015 to 1,304 in 2023.

How does Arizona compare to the national average for road safety?

Arizona's fatality rate of 17.5 per 100K is 43.3% higher than the national average of 12.2 per 100K. According to NHTSA FARS, Arizona ranks #12 of 51 states by fatality rate (highest first), the same sort as /rankings/deadliest-states. See /methodology#corpus-placement.

What percentage of Arizona's road fatalities involve alcohol?

Alcohol-impaired driving accounts for 20.1% of road fatalities in Arizona, representing 1,954 deaths over the reporting period. Speeding accounts for 31.2% and pedestrian incidents for 21.0%.

Are rural or urban roads more dangerous in Arizona?

In Arizona, urban roads account for more fatalities: 3,197 rural vs. 6,301 urban deaths. Rural roads account for 32.9% of all fatalities.

STATE FATALITY DATA - 2023

Arizona: higher-rate fatality band

Arizona is in the higher per-capita third: 1,304 traffic deaths in 2023 at 17.5 per 100,000 (#12 of 51).

Compiled by PlainRoadSafety · September 3, 2026

1,304
Deaths (2023): 17.5
Per 100k residents: Above average; 1.7
Per 100M VMT: -16
2022–2023 deaths

Lower alcohol-impaired share

Arizona ranks #46 of 51 by alcohol-impaired share (20.1%) - bottom-third alcohol involvement.

Arizona in the higher-rate third

According to NHTSA FARS, Arizona sits in the higher-rate third at 17.5 per 100k (#12 of 51), 43% above the U.S. 12.2 benchmark, with nighttime the largest contributing factor.

#12 of 51
higher-rate third: 17.5/100k
2023 fatality rate: #10/51
by total FARS fatalities: Nighttime
leading contributing factor

Highway fatality milepost

Milepost AZ · Arizona #12 of 51 · 17.5/100k

Arizona · 17.5/100k · 1,304 in 2023 · #12 of 51

YOY 17.5/100k
FARS #12 of 51
NHTSA 1.7/100M
MILE 9,706 book
BAND near Louisiana
POST 31.2% spd
RATE 21.0% ped
RANK +43.3% vs US

Stamps derive from this state's NHTSA FARS row (per-100k rate, corpus rank, VMT rate, fatality book, nearest-rate peer, alcohol/speeding/pedestrian shares, vs-national gap), not a trip-risk forecast. PlainRoadSafety is informational only. See our disclaimer. Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Read with methodology → · Understanding road fatality data → · States ranked →

Road Safety Index

21/100

Arizona

Benchmarked against all 51 states (50 states + DC) on fatality rate, exposure-adjusted rate, pedestrian and impaired-driving fatality share, and safety trend from NHTSA FARS, US Census Bureau, and FHWA sources, not enforcement, infrastructure spend, or road-condition ratings.

Fatality Rate F

17.5/100k

Fatalities per 100,000 residents (NHTSA FARS + Census PEP population)

Exposure-Adjusted Rate F

1.73/100M VMT

Fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (NHTSA FARS + FHWA Highway Statistics)

Pedestrian Safety F

21.0%

Share of fatalities that were pedestrians (NHTSA FARS)

Impaired-Driving Control A+

20.1%

Share of fatalities that were alcohol-impaired (NHTSA FARS)

Safety Trend F

+45.4%

Change in fatalities over the reporting period; negative is declining (NHTSA FARS)

Pedestrian-led roadside pattern in Arizona

After vehicle-to-vehicle crashes, Arizona's 2023 FARS first-harm leader is Pedestrian at 19.7%, a pedestrian-forward pattern relative to fixed-object states. Counts come from the NHTSA FARS accident microdata for 2023 (first harmful event, weather, light, route, and rural/urban setting), not from the seeded state rollup alone.

First harmful event

Motor Vehicle In-Transport 48.5% · 634
Pedestrian 19.7% · 258
Rollover/Overturn 8.9% · 117
Curb 4.2% · 55
Pedalcyclist 3.2% · 42

Light condition

Daylight 43.8% · 573
Dark - Lighted 28.7% · 376
Dark - Not Lighted 15.6% · 204
Dusk 3.1% · 41
Dark - Unknown Lighting 2.3% · 30

Roadway class

Not Signed 57.0% · 745
State Highway 16.8% · 220
Interstate 11.9% · 155
U.S. Highway 9.0% · 118
Municipal 2.4% · 31

Weather at crash

Clear 82.6% · 1,080
Cloudy 7.0% · 91
Rain 3.0% · 39
Fog, Smog, Smoke 0.1% · 1

Arizona

18
Louisiana

18
Oklahoma

18
Kentucky

18
Montana

18
Tennessee

19

What this shows Arizona sits among the five nearest fatality-rate peers on the per-100k scale.

Nighttime

47
Unrestrained

36
Speeding

31
Pedestrian

21
Alcohol-Impaired

20
Weather-Related

13

What this shows Nighttime is the top contributing cause in Arizona, involved in 47.2% of all road deaths. Note: categories overlap as a single crash may involve multiple factors.

Arizona vs all states by fatality rate

Where this state's deaths-per-100k sits among every state and D.C. on PlainRoadSafety

18 Higher risk than most a lower per-capita rate than 22% of 51 states

States and D.C., banded by fatality rate per 100,000 residents

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source NHTSA FARS over Census population · 2026-09-03

Arizona plotted against a representative sample of 27 of 51 states and D.C. by deaths per 100,000 residents (x) and deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (y). Dashed lines mark the national median across all 51, computed from the full corpus.

Arizona can rank differently on each axis: population density pushes the per-capita rate one way, and rural-highway commute length pushes the per-mile rate another. Hover or tap any point (including Arizona's own, highlighted) for its exact figures.

Fatality Trend Analysis (2015–2023)

In the higher-rate third, Arizona moved from 897 deaths in 2015 to 1,304 in 2023 (+45.4%).

Year	Fatalities	Rate	Alcohol	Speeding	Pedestrian
2015	897	12.1	271	300	155
2016	952	12.8	241	312	186
2017	998	13.4	259	301	213
2018	1,011	13.6	212	299	236
2019	979	13.2	222	299	210
2020	1,053	14.2	197	336	222
2021	1,192	16.0	191	354	250
2022	1,320	17.8	180	422	297
2023	1,304	17.5	181	407	271

Maricopa leads Arizona's county fatality book

Maricopa County alone accounts for 49.2% of Arizona's 8,797 FARS fatalities over 2015-2023 (4,327 deaths); on a per-100k basis, La Paz sits higher at 131.7/100k.

#	County	Total Fatalities	Latest Year	Avg Annual	Trend
1	MARICOPA (13)	4,327	678	480.8	↑ increasing
2	PIMA (19)	1,173	183	130.3	↑ increasing
3	PINAL (21)	567	79	63.0	↑ increasing
4	MOHAVE (15)	465	76	51.7	↑ increasing
5	YAVAPAI (25)	419	47	46.6	↑ increasing
6	COCONINO (5)	398	56	44.2	↑ increasing
7	NAVAJO (17)	330	39	36.7	↑ increasing
8	APACHE (1)	240	23	26.7	↔ stable
9	YUMA (27)	213	28	23.7	↑ increasing
10	COCHISE (3)	208	30	23.1	↑ increasing
11	GILA (7)	178	16	19.8	↑ increasing
12	LA PAZ (12)	137	22	15.2	↑ increasing
13	GRAHAM (9)	75	11	8.3	↑ increasing
14	SANTA CRUZ (23)	54	9	6.0	↑ increasing
15	GREENLEE (11)	13	3	1.4	↔ stable

States With Similar Fatality Rates

Among higher-rate peers, Louisiana (17.7/100k) and Oklahoma (17.7/100k) sit closest to Arizona's 17.5 per 100k.

6 of 50 other states are shown here, ranked by closeness to Arizona's fatality rate.

Louisiana

17.7 per 100K

811 fatalities (2023)

Oklahoma

17.7 per 100K

718 fatalities (2023)

Kentucky

18.0 per 100K

814 fatalities (2023)

Montana

18.4 per 100K

208 fatalities (2023)

Tennessee

18.6 per 100K

1,323 fatalities (2023)

Missouri

16.0 per 100K

991 fatalities (2023)

Maricopa County and related Arizona road data

Contextual links from this profile to rankings, tools, research, and peer geographies on PlainRoadSafety.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official public datasets for Arizona (#12 of 51; volume #10/51). See our methodology. Retrieved and formatted by PlainRoadSafety · vintage 2026-09-03

Verify with NHTSA FARS → · Verify with Census →